Gun holster

ABSTRACT

A GUN HOLSTER WHEREIN A RIFLE OR GUN MAY BE CARRIED IN A HORIZONTAL POSITION BY A GUN SUPPORTING MEMBER COUPLED NORMAL TO A SIDE PLATE AND IS REVERSIBLE FOR SUPPORTING THE GUN OR RIFLE ON THE OTHER SIDE THEREOF IN A VERTICAL POSITION FOR FAST AIMING AND FIRING FROM THE HORIZONTAL OR VERTICAL POSITION.

May 23, 1972 P. M. TOLLIVER GUN HOLSTER 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 25, 1970 INVENTOR.

PETER M. TOLLIVER y 1972 P. M. TOLLIVER 3,664,558

GUN HOLSTER Filed Oct. 23, 1970 3 Sheets-Sheet .2

INVENTOR.

' PETER M; 'IO'LLIVER Attorney y 23, 1972 P. M. TOLLlVER 3,664,558

GUN HOLSTER Filed Oct. 23, 1970 3 Shoots-Shoot A Li EL E 9| INVENTOR.

PETER M TOLLIVER United States Patent 01 3,664,558 GUN HOLSTER Peter M. Tolliver, Brighton, N.Y., assignor of fractional part interest to Samuel R. Genca Filed Oct. 23, 1970, Ser. No. 83,364 Int. Cl. F41c 33/00 US. Cl. 224-1 R 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A gun holster wherein a rifle or gun may be carried in a. horizontal position by a gun supporting member coupled normal to a side plate and is reversible for supporting the gun or rifle on the other side thereof in a vertical position for fast aiming and firing from the horizontal or vertical position.

The present invention relates to a gun holster and more particularly to an improved gun holster for supporting a gun in horizontal and vertical positions.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A problem of long standing facing hunters and soldiers is that of carrying a gun or rifle over extended periods of time and distance. In an open field for example, it may be desirable to carry the gun in a horizontal position while in dense areas such as in a corn field, forest or jungle, it may be desirable to carry the gun in nearly vertical position. For relatively short periods of time, the carrying of the gun in either one of these positions may be accomplished without a problem of great fatigue. A major problem may develop however when the gun is carried over a great distance and for a long period of time.

In the past, to reduce this problem, attempts have been made such as providing a briefcase type handle on the gun. This of course only adds weight to the gun and thus introduces still another weight problem which may also effect aiming of the gun. Other attempts have included vertical or horizontal supports to carry the gun in either a horizontal or vertical position which have encumbered the speed in which the gun user may bring the gun to an aiming position. A gun holster solving the aforesaid problem is greatly needed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Briefly described, a gun holster in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention supports a gun or rifle in a horizontal or vertical position for rapid aiming and firing. The gun holster includes a longitudinal side plate member and a reversible two sided gun support member which accommodates the gun in the two positions. The two sided gun support member is reversibly mounted on the side plate. The verticle gun position is accomplished by supporting the heel and toe of a gun butt in a receptacle on one side of the gun supporting member and a means on the other side of the gun support member for supporting the gun at a horizontal balancing position such as at the loading port of the gun.

The gun holster includes means for suspending the side plate member from a belt and shoulder harness so that the weight of the gun may be comfortably carried. In accordance with the invention, the gun supporting member is mountable on the side plate to accommodate the two gun positions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will be better understood upon consideration of the following detailed description taken together with the accompanying drawings in which like elements in various figures have like designations and in which:

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FIG. 1 shows a preferred embodiment of the invention mounted on a belt and shoulder strap for carrying a gun in a vertical position;

FIG. 2 shows the gun holster of FIG. I mounted on the belt and shoulder strap for carrying the gun in a horizontal position;

FIG. 3 shows a front view of the gun holster of FIG. 1 in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a side sectional view of the gun holster taken along line 44 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the gun holster showing details of a belt supporting member for the gun holster of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 shows a hunter carrying a gun in a vertical position on the gun holster of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a front view of a gun holster with parts removed to show details of the gun holster in accordance with another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 8 shows a front view of the gun holster of FIG. 7 with a gun supporting member for carrying the gun in a vertical position as shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a side sectional view of the gun holster of FIG. 8 taken along line 9-9;

FIG. 10 shows a schematic view of the gun holster of FIGS. 7 and 8 fastened to a belt and shoulder strap;

FIG. 11 shows fragmentary views of the gun holster of FIG. 7 mounted on a belt;

FIG. 12 is a front view of a two sided gun supporting member for the gun holster of FIG. 8;

FIG. 13 is a side view of the gun supporting member;

FIG. 14 is a top view of the two sided gun supporting member;

FIG. 15 is a bottom view of the gun supporting member;

FIG. 16 is another front view of the two sided gun supporting member of FIG. 12 supporting an automatic shot gun at a loading port;

FIG. 17 is a fragmentary bottom view of another gun supporting member having a swivel arrangement; and

FIG. 18 is a side fragmentary view of the gun supporting member of FIG. 17 cut away to show details of the swivel arrangement.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring first to FIGS. 1-6, a gun holster 10 in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention is shown. The gun holster 10 may be mounted on a belt 11 and shoulder strap 12 at a loop 13 by a clip 7 for supporting a gun 9 in a vertical position (FIGS. 1 and 6) and in a horizontal position by a loop 14 diametrically opposite to the loop 13 by the clip 7. In FIG. 6 the gun 9 is shown by dotted lines in a horizontal position and may be carried in that manner by the gun holster 10 when the gun holster 10 is fastened to the belt 11 and shoulder strap 12 as shown in FIG. 2.

The gun holster 10 includes a reversible two-sided gun supporting member 15 and a side plate member 16. The gun supporting member 15 shown in greater detail in FIGS. 12-16 has a receptacle 17 for receiving a butt 18 of the gun 9. The receptacle 17 is shaped to receive the toe 3 and heel 8 of the butt 18 and includes .wall member 19 to retain the butt 18 of the gun 9 in the receptacle 17, yet has sufficient clearance so that the gun 9 may be withdrawn from the gun holster 10 rapidly. The receptacle 17 may be lined with foam plastic (not shown) and the like to absorb vibrations and noise. The gun supporting member 15 is preferably molded as a unitary structure of plastic such as nylon, polyethylene and the like and therefore the gun butt may be carried in the receptacle 17 with 3 a minimum of noise and scratching to the gun butt 18. It should be understood however that other material such as wood and metal may be used in the manufacture of the gun supporting member.

The gun supporting member 15 includes a fulcrum means 23 for supporting the gun 9 in a horizontal position at a balancing point thereon such as a loading port 5. The fulcrum means 23 includes a raised pilot 24 which is insertible into the loading port 5 of the gun 9. The fulcrum means 23 includes a side guard 25 which laterally supports the gun 9 and also acts as a lead for placing the gun 9 on the fulcrum means 23.

The gun supporting member 15 is mounted on the side plate member 16 (FIG. 3) and includes a bearing plate portion 26 disposed in an imaginary plane normal to the plane of the receptacle 17 and the fulcrum means 23. That is the bearing plate portion 26 lies in a plane normal to the plane through the receptacle 17 of the fulcrum means 23. The bearing plate portion 26 has four mounting holes 27 through which four rivets 28 are used to fasten the gun supporting member 15 to the side plate member 16. The gun supporting member 15 may, if desired, be slideably and reversibly mounted to the side plate as shown in the other embodiment of the invention shown in the gun holster 70 of FIGS. 7-10 without de parting from the invention.

The side plate member 16 is preferably made of flexible material such as leather or plastic to permit a hunter to be seated while the gun holster is fastened to the belt 11 and strap 12. The side plate member 16 has a relatively large surface 21 at end 30 and a smaller surface 22 at end 29. The large surface 21 at end 30 acts as a bearing surface for the gun supporting member 15. A bearing plate 32 is fastened to the side plate member 16 on another surface 21a as by rivets 33. The gun supporting member may also be fastened to the bearing plate 32 and side plate member 16 by rivets 28. The large surface 21 is particularly useful since the weight of the gun 9 is laterally distributed on a larger area thus adding comfort to the user of the gun holster 10.

The gun holster 10 includes two belt clips 35 and 35a for securing the gun holster 10 to the belt 11. One of the clips 35 is disposed at end 30 of the holster 10 and the other one of the clips 35a is disposed at end 29. The clip 35 at end 30 is proximal to the gun supporting member 15 and is used when carrying the gun 9 in the horizontal position (as shown in FIG. 2) while the clip 35a at end 29 is distal to gun supporting member 15 and is used when carrying the gun 9 in the vertical position as shown in FIGS. 1 and 6. The belt clips 35, 35a each include a hearing portion 36, 36a and a hook member 37, 37a. The cilps 35, 35a preferably are made of non-rusting materials such as brass, aluminum or the like.

The gun supporting member 15 includes drip slots 2 for water drainage from the receptacle 17.

In the operation of the gun holster 10, the gun 9 may be carried in the horizontal or vertical position for fast aiming and firing as mentioned hereinbefore. If the vertical carrying position is desired, the gun holster clip 35a is fastened to the belt 11 while the clip 7 is fastened to the loop 13 of the gun holster 10. In this position the receptacle 17 is dished up and the gun butt 18 may be placed in receptacle 17 while the gun 9 is held in a vertical position by the users hand (FIG. 6). Since the receptacle 17 is distal to the loop 13 and belt clip 35a, the grip 6 of the gun 9 is disposed proximal to the belt 11 at a comfortable carrying position.

If the horizontal carrying position is desired, the gun holster 10 is rotated 180 and the clip 35 is fastened to the belt 11 and the loop 14 is secured to clip 7 of the strap 12. In this position, the gun holster gun supporting 15 is in alignment with the belt 11 and is at a comfortable height for carrying the gun 9 in a horizontal position. The load ing port 5 of the gun 9 is placed over the fulcrum means 23 so that the gun 9 is balanced at the fulcrum means 23.

The hunter or the user of the gun 9 can rest his hand on the grip 6 to support the gun 9 while the gun 9 is horizontally disposed on the gun supporting member 15. The pilot 24 of the fulcrum means 23 restricts lateral and end Wise movement of the horizontally disposed gun 9 while the side guard 25 provides a lead for loading the gun 9 onto the fulcrum means 23.

Referring now to FIGS. 7-11, another embodiment of the gun holster is shown at 70. The gun holster 70 is similar to gun holster 10 except that instead of rotating the gun holster 10 to carry the gun 9 in the horizontal and vertical positions, the gun supporting member 15 is rotated 180 to carry the gun 9 in the vertical and horizontal positions. To accomplish this the gun holster 10 includes two similar retaining brackets 74, 74a, a side plate member 71 and bearing plates 72, 78. The retaining brackets 74 and 74a are fixed to the side plate member 71 and bearing plates 72, 78 by rivets 76, 76a. Retaining bracket 74 and bearing plate 72 are disposed at the vertical loading portion 79 of the side plate member 71. Rivets 73 secure the bearing plate 72 to the side plate member 71. Retaining bracket 74a and bearing plate 78 are disposed at the horizontal loading portion 80 of the side plate member 71. Rivets 73a secure the bearing plate 78 to the side plate member 71. It should be understood that the bearing plates 72 and 78 are only used for the distribution of loading forces on the side plate member 71 and if the side plate member 71 is made of relatively strong material such as heavy, thick leather, the bearing plates 72 and 78 may be eliminated without departing from the invention.

The retaining brackets 74, 740 include channel means 75, 75a for retaining the gun supporting member 15 within the brackets 74, 74a. The channel means 75, 75a coact with the bearing plate portion 26 of the gun supporting member 15 for retaining the gun supporting member 15 in the necessary positions for carrying the gun 9 in the vertical or horizontal positions. That is the gun supporting member 15 is disposed in the bracket 74 and the receptacle 17 is dished up for carrying the gun 9 in the vertical position while the gun supporting member 15 is disposed in the bracket 74a and the fulcrum means 23 is on top (receptacle is dished down). That is the gun supporting member 15 is rotated 180 and shifted from bracket 74 to bracket 74a.

The gun holster 70 includes a shoulder strap loop 83 and a belt loop 82 which are fastened to the shoulder strap 12 and belt 11 respectively for carrying the gun 9.

In the operation of the gun holster 70, the gun 9 is carried in vertical and horizontal positions for fast aiming and firing in the same manner as gun holster 10. As mentioned hereinbefore, the gun holster 10 is rotated 180 between the vertical and horizontal positions because the gun supporting member 15 is fastened to the side plate by rivets 28. However in gun holster 70 the gun supporting member 15 may be shifted and rotated 180 between bracket 74 for the vertical gun position and bracket 74a for the horizontal gun position.

Referring now to FIGS. 17 and 18, another gun supporting member is shown. The gun supporting member 90 is similar to gun supporting member 15 except that the gun supporting member 90 may be swivelled about a pin 93 and a cantilever bar 92 disposed normal to a vertical bearing plate 91. The vertical bearing plate 91 is similar in design to the bearing plate portion 26 so that the gun supporting member 90 may be interchangeable with gun supporting member 15. A stop pin 95 is secured to the moveable portion 98 of the gun supporting member 90 and is moveable within an arcuate slot 94 of the bar 92. A curved slot 96 in the moveable portion 98 permits horizontal rotational movement of the portion 98 with respect to the side plate member 16 or side plate 71. The gun supporting member 90 includes a receptacle 17a and a fulcrum means 22a similar to the receptacle 17 and fulcrum means 23.

Other modifications and variations of the described specific embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, it is understood that the described specific examples of the present invention are presented merely by way of example to facilitate a complete understanding of the invention, and such modifications, changes, or variations as are embraced by the spirit and scope of the appended claims, are contemplated as within the purview of the present invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A gun holster comprising:

(a) a longitudinal side plate member,

(b) belt means disposed at opposite ends of said side plate member for vertically suspended said side plate member from said ends, and

(c) a gun supporting member coupled to said side plate member for supporting a gun having a butt in vertical and horizontal positions,

(i) said gun supporting member having a receptacle on one side distal to one end of said side plate member for receiving said butt to support said gun in a vertical position when said side plate member is suspended at said one end,

(ii) said gun supporting member having a fulcrum means proximal to the other end of said plate member for balancing said gun in a horizontal position thereon when said side plate member is suspended at said other end.

2. The invention defined in claim 1 wherein said belt means includes belt clips at opposite ends of said side plate member.

3. The invention defined in claim 1 wherein said gun receptacle and fulcrum means are in a back-to-back relationship.

4. The invention defined in claim 1 wherein said receptacle and fulcrum means are parallel to a given plane perpendicular to said side plate member.

5. The invention defined in claim 1 wherein said gun holster is reversible for carrying said gun in said horizontal and vertical positions.

6. A gun holster for supporting a gun in vertical and horizontal positions, said holster comprising:

(a) a longitudinal side plate member,

(b) belt means disposed at one end of side plate member for suspending said side plate member vertically,

(c) a rotatable gun supporting member for supporting said gun vertically on one side thereof and horizontally on the other side thereon when rotated (d) first means fixed to said side plate member proximal to said belt means and coacting with said gun supporting member for carrying said gun in said horizontal position, and

(e) second means fixed to said side plate member distal to said belt means and coacting with said gun supporting member for carrying said gun in said vertical position.

7. The invention defined in claim 6 wherein said first and second means are channel brackets for retaining said gun supporting member when reversed in said side plate member.

8. The invention defined in claim 7 wherein said gun supporting member includes fulcrum means for balancing said gun at a loading port thereon.

9. A gun holster comprising:

(a) a gun supporting member having a receptacle for receiving a butt of a gun in a vertical position and fulcrum means in back-to-back relationship with said receptacle for supporting said gun at a balancing point thereon when a horizontal position,

(b) belt means for suspending said gun holster from a belt,

(c) means positioned in cooperative relationship with said gun supporting member for selecting one of said positions for carrying said gun, and

(d) said means positioned in cooperative relationship with said gun supporting member includes means for positioning said gun supporting member proximal to said belt for carrying said gun horizontally and for positioning said gun supporting member distal to said belt for carrying said gun vertically.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,543,703 2/1951 Pelto 224-1 R 2,778,552 1/1957 Thompson 224-4 R 2,873,902 2/ 1959 Decker 224-1 R PHILIP ARNOLD, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 2245 R 

